When a princess with the ability to absorb and transfer life force energy discovers her mother, the queen, is manipulating her, she works with unexpected allies to steal the throne, battling magic-induced anxiety and unexpected attractions along the way. Astrid is a vygora-a rare being that can absorb one's life force energy and transfer it to another with only a touch. Only two people know what she's truly capable of: her best friend, Ilona, and her mother, the Queen of Hakran, a powerful myndox. When foreign royalty and their handsome guard, Dashiel Dargan, show up unexpectedly with the ability to mute myndox manipulation, Astrid discovers she's been a prisoner to her mother's power her entire life, and she's not the only one. Faced with a lifetime of memories built on lies, she's caught between the story she thinks she knows, and the one she doesn't remember. But when she can't trust anyone, how can she figure out which story is true?